Scrumdiddlyumptious Salad Session at Fishtoft Academy

Pupils from Fishtoft Academy in Boston rolled up their sleeves and grabbed a fork to take part in a Freshtime Fun Club session.

Twenty-three Year 2, 3 and 4 children took part in the Boston-based food producer’s first extended fun club session on Tuesday 13th December led by Freshtime’s Head of Corporate and Social Responsibility Mel Miles.

The Fun Club team, who have expanded their schools programme which usually runs in the summer term, visited Fishtoft Academy at the request of class teacher Sarah Hatter to deliver a session set to complement this term’s scrumdiddlyumptious project.

“We’ve been learning about the human body in our science lessons and reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in English. I was keen for the class to find out more about healthy eating so called on Freshtime for help,” explained Mrs Hatter.

At the start of the session Mel Miles tested the children, aged six to nine, on their vegetable and salad knowledge and discussed the different colours, tastes and textures of the fresh produce he had brought with him.

Then Mel, accompanied by Julia Pires, PA to the Freshtime management team, handed out a range of ready-to-eat healthy salads for the children to try and review based on the health benefits, flavour and what it looked like.

Mel said: “I was really impressed by the children’s knowledge of the names of different vegetables and once the salads came out it was great to see them tuck in with gusto!

“We brought along some interesting fusions including Moroccan-style chicken couscous, a chicken and sweet chilli noodle salad and a super green bean salad, and I was pleasantly surprised that the children tried some of the more unusual dishes and even more so that many of them liked the less traditional flavours.”

During the evaluation at the end of the taste test the chicken dishes came out on top with the best flavour, look and health benefits. A close runner-up was the tomato and cheese pasta pots, which the children also enjoyed the taste and look of.

The pupils were provided with some Freshtime Fun Club worksheets to further test their knowledge and at the end of the day each were given a fun club-branded bookmark to take home.

Mrs Hatter concluded: “We really enjoyed the visit from Mel and Julia from the Freshtime Fun Club. It was nice to see the children so excited about healthy vegetables and it provided an opportunity for them to think and talk about the flavours they prefer as well as the health benefits.

“I hope they take the enthusiasm they showed during the session and become ambassadors for healthy eating at home.”

In 2017 the Freshtime Fun Club will be working with more schools in and around Boston to deliver the healthy eating programme to even more children in a bid to raise awareness of healthy choices and food provenance and encourage them to grow their own produce.